Welch introduces students to a world of possibilities

By BERT GAMBINI

Marilee Couldron talks about what makes Claude Welch a special
teacher.

There was a time early in his career when Claude Welch would be
covered in chalk dust at the end of the day. The state of his
clothes, it turns out, had more to do with his inexperience than
the inherently messy medium of the old black boards.

“I kept backing up against the board because I
didn’t know how to teach,” says Welch.

But over the course of 50 years, much has changed for the SUNY
Distinguished Service Professor in UB’s Department of
Political Science.

“My clothes are cleaner today because of
PowerPoint,” he says.

That Welch injects humor into his conversations is completely
expected from someone who is likely to provide an equal degree of
wit in his classroom. One of his recent lectures included a
rendition of “Frere Jacques,” sung in both French and
German. Yet, the musical interlude was introduced for purposes
other than mere levity. The day’s class discussion involved
patterns of child raising, working within families and educating
kids, and one of the ways to do this, says Welch, is “to
inculcate the mother language.”

“Effective, even if I was slightly off key,” he
admits.

Yet if years of singing have failed to improve his pitch, he has
nevertheless honed his teaching to perfection over that same period
of time.

Just as great singers seek out other vocalists to improve their
craft, Welch sought out other teachers, auditing classes to improve
his own performance. When looking for classes that might inform his
own teaching, he made decisions based on the effectiveness of the
instructor rather than material being presented, a fact that often
put him outside his area of expertise.

Most of what Welch brings to his students, however, is the
result of a university portfolio that touches on all aspects of
campus life. At various times, he has served in administrative
positions, such as dean, associate provost and department chair.
But he was always teaching, regardless of what role may have taken
most of his time.

“I love the opportunity to interact with small
groups,” he says, “where people come together and share
ideas.”

That statement at once seems curious. Though he teaches one
graduate seminar a year and last spring taught an additional
seminar on human rights for the law school, much of Welch’s
recognition as a teacher comes from his World Civilization class.
Hardly a small group, World Civ, as it’s often called, might
be populated by more people than some of the civilizations being
studied. Yet, Welch loves teaching this class, in particular, and
takes great pleasure in scaling the large assembly into the smaller
breakout sessions that delight students like undergraduate Marilee
Couldron.

“I feel like I can ask any question, raise any issue
that’s related to the subject matter,” Couldron says.
“Students are comfortable talking to him and I think that
means a lot to everybody.”

For Welch, the chance to closely relate with his students gives
him a better perspective on their growth, allowing him to recognize
the development of their knowledge and understanding regarding the
issues and concepts he’s teaching.

“It’s satisfying for me to see students have a
willingness to move away from merely asking what is the right
answer and what is the wrong answer to the level of a mature adult
who is thinking about the future and is willing to ponder a number
of possible approaches."